Grain-car-door lock



May 20, '1924.

AF. C. LAKIN GRAIN CAR POOR'L'OCK l Filed April` 16.l 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E ,E i JV D E JH, D i; E Q@ E E D @uff/m E@ n La@ d w F. C.. LAKIN GRAINcAR Doon 'Loox Mawv 2o, 1924.

Filed April ,"16. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mib/moo Patented May 20, 1924.

STATES FRANK c; LAKIN, `or MANCHESTER, ILLINOIS.

i eaArN-caa-Doon Loox.

Applicationled April 1S, 1923.-' Serial No. 632,421. Y

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK C. LAKIN, a citizen of the United States, residin at Manchester, in the county of Scott and t tate of Illinois, have invented certain ,new and useful Improvements in Grrain-Car-Door Locks; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to improve upon the construction shown by my U. S. Patent No. 958,140 of May17, 1910, to the extent of 'providing anv exceptionally simple', yet elfective locking means for the i sliding door sections, which will permit the use of these sections at the inner side of the door frame, while positioning the locking means at the outer side of said' sections,`at which vlocation these means'are readily accessible. j v l With the foregoingin view, the invention resides in the novel subj ect matter hereinafter described and claimed, the description being supplemented by the accompanying drawings. i

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a grain car equipped with door sections and provided with'the improved locking means. I

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view as indicated Vbyline 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating the manner in which the lockingl means may be held released.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 2. y

Fi re 6 is a perspective view 4of one'l of the pivoted latch arms.

Figure 7 is an inner side elevation of one of the door sections.

In the drawingsabove briefly described, the numeral 1 designates'th'e door frameof a grain car yhaving the usual upright stiles 2 whose inner sides are preferably provided with facing plates 3. A door is provided for the frame 1 which is here shown as con sisting of a plurality of horizontally elongated sections 4 resting one upon the other, said sections all being preferably of the same construction in order that it is not essential to locate any one section at any' particular ypoint .when applying: `the door1 to the car. Each lof these sections preferably consists/of an elongated metal'pl'ate 5 hav- `ing a plurality of horizontally spaced o-penings 6, certain of which co-operate ywith the locking meansl yet to be described, while-the others are instrumental in sliding one vor more ofthe door sections when desired, during dumping of the load. Escape `of grain through the openings 6 isfprevented by channel-shaped guards 7 extending longitudinally of the plates 5 and serving also as `reinforcements for these plates, additional reinforcementsl 8 being disposedvtr'ansversely at the ends of the plates. vThe upper edge of each plate 5 is `by preference additionally 'reinforced by a longitudinal angle metal bar 9 while a similar bar10n isprov-ided along 'the 'lower edge, the lower edge ofthe bar 1() being spaced inwardly `to some extent from the4 adjacent edgeof the plate 5,' whilethe upper edge of the bar 9 is-spaced-outwardly to the same extent from the upper edgeof said plate. 1 Thus,- the plateswill properly seat oneupon the other as shown in Fig. 3 andtight leak-proof joints are formed;A

At each end of eachdoorsection 4, the frame 1 is provided with alo-cking mechanism, but as all of these locking mechanisms are indentical, only one vwill be described. A latch arm 11 is pivotedby a lag screw or the like 12 against lthe inner side of the face plate 3 and is formed with a hook 1,3 on its free end to engage the lower edge wall of the adjacent opening 6. A holding arm 14 is pivotedat 15 to the face plate 3 above the latch arm 11 `and is adapted to be swung downwardly and inwardlyv to the position latter in place. An additionalholding 'arm 17 is pivote'd at 18 to the`face 'plate 3 at 'a point spaced outwardly from the pivots 12 and 15 and at an elevation between said pivots 12 and 15, said arm17 being swingable downwardly into contact withthe latch arm 11, in which positionv its free end abuts the outer end of the holding arm 14 and thereby retains the latter in place. The

arm 14 is held in operative position both by friction and by gravityand there is thus no danger` of accidental release.

When the latch arm 11 is to be released, the holding arms 14 and 17 may be moved upwardly to the position disclosed in Fig. 3, in which position the free end of the arm 17 is receivable in a notch 19 in one edge of the arm 14. Thus, these arms are held in such a position that they will not interfere with proper release of the arm 11, and the parts will remain in these relative positions until the latch is to be again applied. This may readily be done as no interference is offered by the arms 14 and 17, but when the use of these arms is required, they may be easily disengaged from engagement with each other andmoved to their respective opwith said recess.

erative positions.

The latch arm 11, and preferably the arms 14'and 17 also, are provided with means per mitting them to be longitudinally adjusted to compensate for wear or for slight inaccuracies in manufacture. I have detailed the construction used for this purpose in connection with the arm 11 and it may be considered that the same structure is present also in the other arms.

By referring now more particularly to Figs. 5 and 6, it will be seen that the latch arm 11V has an elongated recess 20 formed in one side, while itsfopposite side is provided with a longitudinal slot 21 which registers An elongated block 22 is slidably received in the recess 20 and is formed with an opening 28 register-ing with the slot 21, this slot and opening'receiving the lag screw 12 or other pivot whic'h may be provided. Means are provided whereby thearm 11 and the block 22 may be relatively adjusted and this means preferably takes the form of a set screw 24 threaded through the pivoted-end of the arm 11 and swiveled at its innerend to the block 22, as indicated vat 25.

By providing the construction just described, or an equivalent construction, it will be seen that any necessary adjustments may he quickly and easily made.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, itwill be seen thatsiinple and inexpensive provision has been made for securely locking the sections of a graincar door in place, yet that the locking means may be easily released when desired topermit one or more of the sections to-be slid to an open position. It is usually only `necessary to slide the lower section, but some of the others may be similarly moved if desired and any or all of said sections may be absolutely detached from the car when their use is not desired. The fastening means however remain perma nently upon the door frame but are so compactly associated therewith that they will not interfere with loading and unloading of the car, if the latter is used for purposes other than grain hauling.

As excellent results may be obtained from the details disclosed, they are preferably followed, but within the scope of the invention as claimed, numerous minor changes may be made.

I claim: 1

1. The combination with a grain car door frame and a doo-r section contacting with the innerside thereof, said section having an opening adjacent a stile of the frame; of a latch arm pivoted to the inner side of said stile and having a 'hook at its free end engageable with the lower edge wall of said opening when said latch arm is swung to a substantially horizontal position, a holding arm pivoted to said inner side of said stile above said latch arm and swingable downwardly andv inwardly against said door section with its lower end in abutting relation with the upper edge of said latch arm to hold the latter in lowered operative position, and an additional holding arm pivotedv to said inner side of said stile at a point spaced outwardly from the pivots ofthe other arms and at an elevation between such pivots, said additional holding arm being swingable downwardly against said latch arm into abutting relation with said first namedholding arm. I

2. A structure as specified in claim 1; Said first named holding arm having a notch for receiving and holding the free end of said additional holdingarm rwhen the two arms are released and swung into upwardly converging relation. f

3. A structure as specied in claim 1; said first named holdingv arm having a tapered nose adapted to be ysnugly wedged in said opening between the upper edge of the latter and said latchl arm.

4. A structure as specified in claim 1; at least one of said arms having a longitudinally adjustable part through which its pivot passes. I

In testimony whereof lL have hereunto aixed my signature.

FRANK o. LAKIN. 

